River · Bangladesh
Meghna
Meghna is the longest river of Bangladesh and part of a huge system fed by the Surma. It carries water from the hills of north-eastern India all the way to the Bay of Bengal.
Picture credit: Sayutee (Public domain) · Yeaminkhan (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Alaminnayemhang (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Meghna?
The river starts here: Hills of north-eastern India, where the Barak river begins.
It ends in the Bay of Bengal.
Countries on the river: Bangladesh.
The story behind it
Near its mouth the Meghna becomes one of the widest rivers on Earth: standing on one bank you may not see the other. It first collects the water of the Surma, then meets the Padma and the mighty Brahmaputra, so almost all the rain of a giant region passes through here. The current builds sandy islands called chars, which appear after a flood and can disappear again a few years later; families farm them and move when the bank crumbles. Ferries and wooden boats cross day and night, and fishermen hunt the silvery hilsa, the favourite fish of the country. During the monsoon the river swells enormously and floods the flat land. Experts argue about where this river really starts, so you will find different lengths in different books.
Questions children ask
How long is the Meghna?
Counted together with the Surma, the river system is about 946 kilometres long, of which some 669 kilometres lie in Bangladesh. Because people count the upper part differently, other books give other numbers.
Which countries does the Meghna flow through?
The Meghna itself flows through Bangladesh. Its water, however, starts in the hills of north-eastern India and crosses the border as the Barak and the Surma.
Where does the Meghna flow into?
It flows into the Bay of Bengal through an enormous delta. Before that it has already taken in the Padma and the Brahmaputra, which is why the mouth is so incredibly wide.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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